Children Who Chase Lost Voices

Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Hoshi o Ou Kodomo) is the latest film from Makoto Shinkai (Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days and 5 Centimeters per Second) and the film follows Asuna, a young girl who spends her lonely days listening to mysterious music emanating from a crystal radio, a keepsake from her recently departed father. She soon ends up on a journey of discovery to find a mysterious boy she just met. Takayo Nishimura (5 Centimeters per Second, Before Green Gables) designed the characters and oversaw the animation process. Takumi Tanji (5 Centimeters per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days) directed the art, and musical composer Tenmon (5 Centimeters per Second, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Voices of a Distant Star) collaborated with Shinkai again on this project.

Wolf Children

Wolf Children (Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) tells the story of a 19 year-old college student named Hana who falls in "fairy tale-like" love with a "wolf man." After marrying the wolf man, Hana gives birth to two Wolf Children, older sister Yuki ("snow") who was born on a snowy day and younger brother Ame ("rain") who was born on a rainy day, but when Hana's husband suddenly dies she decides to move to a rural town. The film is produced by a new studio "Studio Chizu" established by Mamoru Hosoda (director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars) specifically for the production of the film. The film is also co-produced by Studio MADHOUSE. Hosoda is credited as the creator, screenwriter and director with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (character designer on Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, FLCL, Summer Wars) handling the character design.

From Up On Poppy Hill

From Up On Poppy Hill is a Studio Ghibli film based on a 1960's shōjo manga of the same name by Tetsuo Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi. The film follows a group of teens as the come together to save their school's clubhouse from destruction in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Hayao Miyazaki wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Gorō Miyazaki.

PONYCAN USA launched a few months back with two shows: Denki-Gai and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Executive Director Kazuyoshi Fukuba answers a few questions about what to expect, and what's up with those prices.― PONYCAN USA is the newly-minted US distribution arm of Pony Canyon, which has been in the Japanese media business since 1966. PONYCAN USA follows the example set by Aniplex of America, in that th...

Shinichiro Watanabe's zany sci-fi showcase for his artist pals winds up on bluray today, loaded with special features in a limited edition with a hefty price tag. Mike Toole investigates.― Space Dandy is a series full of magic-- a magic that first reveals itself late in episode 1, during a sequence in which the show's titular hero and his new pal, Meow, are forced to run away from a pack of jumbo-si...

Find out if you won!― Thank you (again) for entering our contest (again). Winners: Patrick Nakasone, Honolulu, Hi Hiddi Jordan, Bailey, Mi Saul Diaz, Arleta, Ca Watch for our next give-away coming SOON! In the meantime, head over to SpaceDandy.com to find out more about FUNimation's awesome Space Dandy sets.

This little-seen family adventure about a group of tanuki living in Kyoto has careful writing and beautiful scenery; Nick Creamer thinks it might just be a modern classic.― In the guidebook accompanying Eccentric Family, series composer Shotaro Suga speaks frankly of the difficulty of condensing an entire book into an anime, and the question of where to even begin telling the story. “There are just ...

Every good fantasy series has a few incredible elf ladies on display. Today, Lynzee decides to finally share the elf.― The term "bombshell" was coined, very appropriately, during World War II to refer to the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and other sex symbols of the era. There aren't any elves in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but there are plenty of wild, voluptuous fantasy women wielding swor...

Deadman Wonderland is a dark, unsettling look into a private prison abusing the system for the whims of the Warden and a few governmental higher ups.― Ever since 1864, a “wonderland” has been a world where the rules of logic do not apply, a carnival that can be by turns fun and frightening. Deadman Wonderland has been playing with that definition since its first volume, and now in its seventh we beg...